U.S. Marshals arrested tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown at their Plainfield home yesterday, ending the couple's eight-month standoff without bloodshed. The Browns vowed never to be taken alive, but U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said yesterday that both Browns were arrested without incident on their property around 7:45 p.m.

"The Browns may now begin serving their 63-month federal prison terms," Monier said in a written statement last night. A representative for the marshals refused to answer any questions about the arrests last night.

"High-profile situations like this are always difficult, but they don't have to be tragic. I'm glad no one was injured, and that the community remained safe throughout the operation," Monier said.

Marshals will hold a press briefing this morning to provide details about the arrests. According to the statement, the Browns have already been turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving their sentences.

The Browns were convicted of a series of tax-related crimes in January and had both been sentenced in absentia to 63 months in prison. But they have avoided capture, remaining holed up in their solar powered concrete home for months, where they have made repeated public threats of violence and have entertained a large and rotating cast of supporters.

A jury found that the couple had conspired to hide the nearly $2 million that Elaine Brown earned as a dentist over nearly a decade, but the couple maintained that no law compelled them to pay federal income taxes. They described their lengthy standoff as a stand against an unjust court system that was keeping the truth about the tax system from most Americans.

The couple defended themselves at trial, promising to show jurors not only their innocence, but the truth of their legal views. When the judge showed them a copy of jury instructions in their case that they said ensured they could not get a fair trial, they stopped attending the proceedings.

Elaine Brown ultimately returned to court, but Ed Brown sent an e-mail to his friends warning that the situation was likely to turn into "another Waco."

Last night, word of the Browns' arrests began to spread on blogs and message boards where supporters communicate. In a message posted to Ed and Elaine's MySpace page, Jim Hobbs of Phoenix, who lived with the couple for several weeks this summer, wrote: "This site shows 5116 friends. How many of you are just going to sit back and do nothing and how many of you will take action. ed had a list of 50 most wanted. Will you act on that list and send the messsage, Loud and clear."

Marshals did not release any details about the Browns' capture or any additional charges they may face, but in a recent press briefing, Monier suggested that marshals were investigating the couple for new crimes related to their standoff.

"This was a tax case," he said in September, "but over the last seven months, the Browns have allegedly obstructed justice and encouraged others to assist them. Ed Brown has threatened to kill law enforcement officers and other government officials."

The Browns were active in the militia movement in the 1990s, training in a group called the Constitution Defense Militia. Ed Brown became a prominent spokesman for the movement after the Oklahoma City bombing, when he told national news organizations that the attack had been planned by federal agents to discredit the movement.

In recent years, he has served as the national head of the Constitution Rangers of the Continental Congress of 1776, an organization charged with holding law enforcement figures accountable to the constitution.

News of Ed Brown's stand quickly spread through the militia community and flowed to other groups as well. His case captured the imagination of many who believed the income tax system was illegitimate or felt the federal government had gone too far in interfering with individual liberties. The case also attracted the support of members of the local Free State Project, a group of New Hampshire libertarians hoping to transform the state's politics. (next page »)